I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4143 

To temporarily restrict the admission to the United States of refugees from 

countries containing terrorist-controlled territory. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 1, 2015 

Mr. DESANTIS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To temporarily restrict the admission to the United States 

of refugees from countries containing terrorist-controlled 

territory. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Terrorist Refugee In5 filtration Prevention Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COUNTRY CONTAINING TERRORIST-CON2 TROLLED TERRITORY.—The phrase ‘‘country con3 taining terrorist-controlled territory’’ means— 

4 (A) Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and 

5 Yemen; and 

6 (B) any other country designated by the 

7 Secretary of State pursuant to section 4(a). 

8 (2) REFUGEE.—The term ‘‘refugee’’ has the 

9 meaning given the term in section 101(a)(42) of the 

10 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

11 1101(a)(42)). 

12 (3) SUBSTANTIAL ASSISTANCE.—The phrase 

13 ‘‘substantial assistance’’ means a level of assistance 

14 without which the United States could not achieve 

15 the purposes for which the assistance was provided 

16 or sought. 

17 (4) VICTIM OF GENOCIDE.—The term ‘‘victim 

18 of genocide’’ has the meaning given the term in Arti19 cle II of the United Nations Convention on the Pre20 vention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 

21 opened for signature in Paris on December 9, 1948. 

22 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON REFUGEES FROM TERRORIST23 CONTROLLED TERRITORIES. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 

25 (b) and notwithstanding any other provision of law, an 


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1 alien may not be admitted to the United States under sec2 tion 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

3 1157) if the alien is a national of, has habitually resided 

4 in, or is claiming refugee status due to events in any coun5 try containing terrorist-controlled territory. 

6 (b) EXCEPTION.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—An alien otherwise prohib8 ited from admission to the United States under sub9 section (a) may be admitted to the United States 

10 under section 207 of the Immigration and Nation11 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1157) if the alien clearly proves, 

12 beyond doubt, that he or she— 

13 (A) satisfies the requirements for admis14 sion as a refugee; and 

15 (B) is a member of a group that has been 

16 designated by the Secretary of State or by an 

17 Act of Congress as a victim of genocide. 

18 (2) NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT.—An alien 

19 may not be admitted under paragraph (1) unless— 

20 (A) the alien has undergone the highest 

21 level of security screening of any category of 

22 traveler to the United States, including assess23 ments by the Department of State, the Depart24 ment of Defense, the Department of Homeland 

25 Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation 


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1 Terrorist Screening Center, and the National 

2 Counterterrorism Center; 

3 (B) full multi-modal biometrics of the alien 

4 have been taken, including face, iris, and all 

5 fingerprints; and 

6 (C) the Secretary of State, the Secretary 

7 of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Secu8 rity, the Director of the Federal Bureau of In9 vestigation, and the Director of National Intel10 ligence certify that such alien is not a threat to 

11 the national security of the United States. 

12 (c) APPLICABILITY.—Subsections (a) and (b) shall 

13 not apply to any alien seeking admission under section 

14 207 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

15 1157) if the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, 

16 the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of 

17 National Intelligence certify that the alien— 

18 (1) provided substantial assistance to the 

19 United States; and 

20 (2) would face a substantial risk of death or se21 rious bodily injury because of that assistance if not 

22 admitted to the United States. 

23 SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE. 

24 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF OTHER COUNTRIES.—In ad25 dition to the countries listed in section 2(1)(A), the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:12 Dec 04, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4143.IH H4143

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1 retary of State may designate, as a ‘‘country containing 

2 terrorist-controlled territory’’, any country containing ter3 ritory that is controlled, in substantial part, by a Foreign 

4 Terrorist Organization, as designated by the Secretary of 

5 State under section 219 of the Immigration and Nation6 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), to the exclusion of that coun7 try’s recognized government. 

8 (b) LIST OF COUNTRIES CONTAINING TERRORIST9 CONTROLLED TERRITORY.—The Secretary of State 

10 shall— 

11 (1) maintain and continually update a list of 

12 the countries containing terrorist-controlled terri13 tory; and 

14 (2) continuously make available the list de15 scribed in paragraph (1)— 

16 (A) on the Secretary’s Web site; 

17 (B) to the Secretary of Homeland Secu18 rity; 

19 (C) to Congress; and 

20 (D) to the public. 

21 (c) VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE.—The Secretary of State 

22 shall— 

23 (1) identify all groups that are victims of geno24 cide; 


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1 (2) maintain and continually update a list of 

2 the groups that the Secretary or Congress has iden3 tified as victims of genocide; and 

4 (3) continuously make available the list de5 scribed in paragraph (2)— 

6 (A) on the Secretary’s Web site; 

7 (B) to the Secretary of Homeland Secu8 rity; 

9 (C) to Congress; and 

10 (D) to the public. 

11 (d) NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT.—The Secretary 

12 of State may refuse to designate a group for the exception 

13 under section 3(b)(1)(B) if the Secretary determines that 

14 the group poses a substantial security risk to the United 

15 States. 

16 SEC. 5. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY OF HOME17 LAND SECURITY. 

18 (a) RULEMAKING.—The Secretary of Homeland Se19 curity shall issue regulations to implement section 3 as 

20 soon as practicable. 

21 (b) LIMIT OF ALIEN ASSERTIONS.—The Secretary of 

22 Homeland Security may not admit any alien into the 

23 United States under this Act solely based on the assertions 

24 of such alien. 


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1 (c) COORDINATION.—The Secretary of Homeland Se2 curity shall coordinate with the Secretary of State, the 

3 Secretary of Defense, the Director of the Federal Bureau 

4 of Investigation, and the Director of National Intelligence 

5 to substantiate, as much as reasonably practicable, the as6 sertions made by aliens seeking admission to the United 

7 States. 

8 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE PERIOD. 

9 This Act shall be effective during the 3-year period 

10 beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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